Question

Meiosis occurs in
(a) Haploid cells
(b) Mostly haploid cells but occasionally diploid cells
(c) Diploid cells
(d) Mostly diploid cells but occasionally haploid cells

Answer 1

Meiosis provides a mechanism for the reproduction of chromosome number from a diploid to haploid value. So it is often called reduction division. There are three types of meiosis gamete producing, spore- producing, and zygote meiosis. The overall meiosis cycle involves a single chromosomal duplication and two successive cell divisions. So four haploid daughter cells would be formed from a diploid parent cell. This is in contrast to mitosis. Mitosis involves a single chromosomal duplication and a single cell division.

Complete step by step answer:
Meiosis is a peculiar type of cell division occurring in the diploid reproductive cells of all sexually reproducing organisms. In diploid organisms, meiosis occurs in diploid gametophyte or sporocysts cells during gametogenesis or sporogenesis to produce haploid gametes or spores. Gamete producing meiosis is called gametic, gametogenic, or terminal Meiosis and spore- producing meiosis is called the spirit, sporogenic or intermediate meiosis. Gametogenic meiosis is found in many protists, a few lower plants, and in all animals. Sporogenic meiosis occurs in higher plants. The meiotic cell division or meiosis I am a reductional, disjunctional, and heterotypic division. It is a reductional division in the sense that the diploid chromosome complement of the parent cell is reduced to a haploid value in the daughter cells. It is said to be a disjunctional division, since the companion chromosomes of each homologous pair separate or disjoint from each other.
So, the correct answer is 'Diploid cells'.

Additional Information:
- Meiosis forms an essential non- requisite for normal sexual reproduction in plants and animals.
- It plays a significant role in maintaining species integrity, and also in introducing genetic variability into populations.
- It provides a mechanism for precisely reducing the chromosome number to the haploid value in gametes and spores.

Note:
- Meiosis serves as the basic mechanism to maintain genetic continuity and also to conserve species- specific chromosome numbers over successive generations.
- It enables the combination of maternal and paternal chromosomes and genes in gametes. It brings about the redistribution and re- organization of the genetic material through crossing over and recombination, causing the shuffling of genes and the formation of new gene combinations.
- This, in turn, creates genetic variability, promotes the adaptability, fitness, and survival value of organisms.